New York: 229,000 QHPs thru 12/15 (94% of last year w/6 weeks to go)

THIS JUST IN via Dan Goldberg of Politico NY...

.@charles_gaba New NY numbers As of Dec. 15

2.9 million people in Medicaid
229,000 in qhp
364,000 enrolled in Child Health Plus
716,000 in Essential Plan

— Dan Goldberg (@DanCGoldberg) December 20, 2017

For context, as of 12/17/16, New York had enrolled 213,248 people in Qualified Health Plans (QHPs), putting them over 7% ahead of the same point last year...and unlike most states, New York's Open Enrollment Period is just as long as prior years, running all the way out to January 31st.

Put another way: New York's final enrollment tally last year was 242,880, meaning they're just 6% away from breaking that number with six weeks left to go. Their all-time record was set in OE2 with 409,000 QHP selections, but that's a meaningless comparison since the Essential Plan was added the following year, cannibalizing several hundred thousand enrollees anyway.

Meanwhile the 716K enrolled in the Essential Plan (NY's name for the ACA's Basic Health Program) is already 8% higher than last year's final total of 665,318 people.

The 364,000 enrolled in Child Health Plus is also impressive, but that existed prior to the ACA and I don't think it's even funded by ACA provisions, so it doesn't really "count" in terms of ACA-provided coverage. It's also important to note that NY's "Child Health Plus" program is not to be confused with the national Children's Health Insurance Program (or CHIP), which ran out of funding months ago because the GOP Congress has refused to fund the program.

UPDATE: Here's the official press release:

Press Release: NY State of Health Enrollment Reaches Highest Point to Date

• Nearly 30,000 Consumers Enroll in Qualified Health Plans in Final Days Leading to December 15th Deadline
• Enrollment Exceeds Last Year by 700,000
• Open Enrollment Period Runs Through January 31st

ALBANY, N.Y. (December 13, 2017) - NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, today announced that enrollment reached over 4.1 million at close of business on December 15 – the deadline for January 1, 2018 coverage – exceeding enrollment on December 15, 2016 by 700,000.  

“There has been a steady increase in enrollment since the start of the 2018 open enrollment period and that trend continued through December 15th with nearly 30,000 people enrolling in a Qualified Health Plan the final two days,” said NY State of Health Executive Director Donna Frescatore. “Enrollment through NY State of Health is at its highest point reported to date.”   

Enrollment is as follows: 

• Qualified Health Plans: 229,000
• Essential Plan: 716,000
• Child Health Plus: 364,000
• Medicaid: 2,871,000
• Total: 4,180,000

Among the 229,000 Qualified Health Plan enrollees, 50,000 are new and 179,000 are returning customers. QHP enrollment as of December 15th exceeds last year’s December 15th count by 22,000 or 11 percent.

Enrollment in the popular Essential Plan for lower income New Yorkers continued a steady climb up from 640,000 last December 15, 2016.

The NY State of Health website and Customer Service Center both experienced high traffic volume up until close of business on December 15th. The Customer Service Center received over 1 million calls between November 1 and December 15th, including over 55,000 calls on December 15thalone, reflecting higher volumes than the same day last year. Similarly, the NY State of Health website had more than 1.1 million unique visitors who collectively viewed nearly 61 million web pages since November 1, 2017. On December 15th, 2017 alone, there were over 100,000 website visitors – an increase of more than 10,000 website visitors than on this day last year.  

Enrollment in a Qualified Health Plan continues through January 31, 2018. After that date, individuals can enroll in a Qualified Health Plan only if they have a life event such as loss of coverage, marriage or birth of a child that qualifies them for a Special Enrollment Period.  Enrollment in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan continues throughout the year.